Career official becomes deputy TSA administrator

The Transportation Security Administration announced on Wednesday that Gale Rossides, who oversaw many of the agency's workforce development and transformation efforts as associate administrator, will become the permanent deputy administrator.

"I was one of the few federal executives hired in the beginning to create TSA, and I sat in the room with Secretary Norman Mineta with a blank sheet of paper," Rossides said. "To be able to serve today, and with [administrator] Kip Hawley, focusing on all of these initiatives to mature the agency and improve the quality of work life for the people, has been a marvelous experience, but it has been the culmination of drawing that very first chart."

Rossides will be responsible for the day-to-day implementation of many of the plans and programs she designed as associate administrator. In her earlier role, one of her priorities was designing the programs that would allow TSA employees to have full and viable career paths within the agency and significantly lower the high attrition rates that plagued the screening process when it was run primarily by private firms.

Part of the challenge, she said, was coming to a fuller understanding of the skills that transportation security officers needed, and creating a reasonable progression path.

"We expect this officer to really have a variety of skills around the use of the technology, the application of the technology, the ability to interact with the traveling public and an understanding of the security laws and regulations," she said.

But there wasn't a system in place that made it possible for TSOs to acquire that knowledge and rise through the agency. Instead, a significant gap in the required skills and experience existed between D band, the entry-level personnel designation, and F band, the top-level designation, making it hard for employees to be promoted. Rossides helped implement an E-band designation to provide a bridge for employees moving up the career ladder at TSA.

"By creating the E band, you created a path for career progression," said Christopher White, a TSA spokesman. "You created a real option for officers to stay and grow with the agency."

Rossides said she thinks the agency faces challenges in making sure that its attrition rates are reasonable when compared to similar industries and other federal agencies like U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She attributed most of the current attrition not to the departure of TSOs throughout the workforce but to a more transient population of employees who may be working for the agency early in their careers and then decide to seek employment elsewhere.

Rossides said by working on routine issues like injury rates, she hopes to improve both efficiency and attrition rates.

"My interest is the day-to-day management of that workforce and continuing to look at the issues that make up a very efficient operation and a well-trained and high-performing operation," she said. "That translates into things like making sure that our attrition rates and injury rates continue to decline. By improving in those areas, we improve our ability to manage the workforce efficiently."

Rossides' selection as deputy administrator is a milestone in TSA's efforts to ensure continuity of operations. She has been a federal employee her entire working life, and the position is now a career rather than a political post.

"The interest I have now is really to assist the agency in the transition of administrations, and to ensure that the career people in the senior leadership team are the people who will lead the organization well beyond my tenure and into the next administration," she said.